Tougher penalties for using mobile phones when driving

[mrmistoffelees]

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

Advanced courses aren't mandatory, apparently...

http://www.ukemergency.co.uk/blue-light-use/

From that article.....

There is no requirement for people driving emergency vehicles to be trained beyond a normal driving licence. Drivers of police, fire and ambulance vehicles who wish to be exempted from speed limits will be required to be officially trained. This rule has been included in a 2006 Act but it has not yet been made law. At present there is no indication as to when it will be made law. There are concerns that there will be too much demand for the existing driver training courses.

I'd be absolutely gobsmacked if there were any services who allowed people who need to be exempt from speed limits to drive without having taken the official training. I suspect most services will self regulate as a matter of best practice. Again I suspect Derek could answer this better

I suspect the only way to find out would be an FOI request.

[Ken W]

Originally Posted by OhReally

Radio or not, you still have to take your hands off the wheel to use them. If it's unsafe when I do it it's just as unsafe when they do it. In fact it's worse, at least I have a hands free kit....

You need to take your hand off the steering wheel when you change gear with a manual gearbox!

[mrmistoffelees]

Originally Posted by Ken W

You need to take your hand off the steering wheel when you change gear with a manual gearbox!

Six points for changing gear !!!!

[Derek]

Originally Posted by mrmistoffelees

AFAIK (Derek will be able to confirm if I'm right or wrong) any driver blue lighting has to have undertaken an advanced driver course.

Not sure about England/Wales but certainly up here using the blue lights to go to incidents you need to have passed a full driving course either standard (roughly equivalent to advanced driver status) or advanced (very demanding high speed course for traffic or surveillance drivers)

You can drive Police cars without those courses and can use blue lights to stop vehicles but if you break the rules you will more than likely find yourself out of a job, as more than a couple of cops have found out to their cost that I know of.

[jonbxx]

It's not only the hands use that's the issue, it's the distraction. The law is a bit of a fudge as hands free is nearly as bad as hand held phones.

I bet as a passenger, you go quiet when talking to a driver when there's a complex bit of road coming up without even thinking about it...

[mrmistoffelees]

Even MFSW can cause problems though. SWMBO has a juke and the buttons for adjusting volume etc are tiny and have on more than one occasion caused me to take my eyes off the road.

Not that i drive it often, it's FUGLY !!

[techguyone]

It's a fudge law, I still don't see the distinction between one box you hold. We'll call it a phone and another one, we'll call this one a radio.

Dangerous is dangerous. Ban one, ban em all, else its a fudge.

It's a fudge.

[mrmistoffelees]

Originally Posted by techguyone

It's a fudge law, I still don't see the distinction between one box you hold. We'll call it a phone and another one, we'll call this one a radio.

Dangerous is dangerous. Ban one, ban em all, else its a fudge.

It's a fudge.

Or, you could see one as a necessity and the other as not?

Are you against the seatbelt exemption regulations, or the ability to break the speed limit? Something us normal drivers also aren't allowed to do


I do wonder however why there isn't in car technology for speakers mic etc to link to the radio and for voice traffic to be routed over when an airwave device is in range. something to do with pressing the button possibly ?

[techguyone]

No. I see that technology has reached the point that an exemption for radios doesn't need to be there now. Unless the police are still using those curly wired rotary dial earpieces in their cars?

[Ken W]

Originally Posted by mrmistoffelees

Six points for changing gear !!!!

10 points for driving a car

[mrmistoffelees]

Originally Posted by Ken W

10 points for driving a car

-50 for riding a motorbike

[pip08456]

Originally Posted by mrmistoffelees

From that article.....

There is no requirement for people driving emergency vehicles to be trained beyond a normal driving licence. Drivers of police, fire and ambulance vehicles who wish to be exempted from speed limits will be required to be officially trained. This rule has been included in a 2006 Act but it has not yet been made law. At present there is no indication as to when it will be made law. There are concerns that there will be too much demand for the existing driver training courses.

I'd be absolutely gobsmacked if there were any services who allowed people who need to be exempt from speed limits to drive without having taken the official training. I suspect most services will self regulate as a matter of best @spractice. Again I suspect Derek could answer this better

I suspect the only way to find out would be an FOI request.

I can only speak annecdotaly on this. I had a friend in the Met who was over the moon when he passed his advanced drivers course and from what he told me it was intense.

At that time it meant he was allowed to ignore normal traffic laws if responding to an emergency or in persuit.

A lot of people think the advanced driving course they take just teaches them how to drive fast in a safe way but it is more than that. It also teaches you to be aware of what is happening around you and ahead of you.

You have to give a running commentary to the instructor (and examiner) of what you are doing and why.

An exapmle would be " I can see a shop ahead with 2 cars parked outside, a person has just walked out and may be going to one of the cars. Can I pass safetly or do I need to give them a bit more room? What traffic is coming towards me on the other side of the road, if I give that pedestrian more room if they head to the drivers door will it affect the traffic approaching? How do I avoid an incident?

That's why those that say they are "Professional" drivers make me laugh, they don't know the half of it.

That was the case in the 1990's I see no reason why it should be different now.

BTW he asked me to frame his certificate which I did for the extortinate fee of 2 pints.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by mrmistoffelees

From that article.....

There is no requirement for people driving emergency vehicles to be trained beyond a normal driving licence. Drivers of police, fire and ambulance vehicles who wish to be exempted from speed limits will be required to be officially trained. This rule has been included in a 2006 Act but it has not yet been made law. At present there is no indication as to when it will be made law. There are concerns that there will be too much demand for the existing driver training courses.

I'd be absolutely gobsmacked if there were any services who allowed people who need to be exempt from speed limits to drive without having taken the official training. I suspect most services will self regulate as a matter of best practice. Again I suspect Derek could answer this better

I suspect the only way to find out would be an FOI request.

A good pal of mine is a paramedic for a private ambulance firm and they undertook blue light training around 2 years ago, prior to that they just did it but then they were a shoddy firm before being taken over.

---------- Post added at 16:59 ---------- Previous post was at 16:54 ----------

Originally Posted by techguyone

No. I see that technology has reached the point that an exemption for radios doesn't need to be there now. Unless the police are still using those curly wired rotary dial earpieces in their cars?

To much technology in cars imo, the new vw has a 7 inch screen that alerts you to social media updates as you're going along!

Originally Posted by mrmistoffelees

Or, you could see one as a necessity and the other as not?

Are you against the seatbelt exemption regulations, or the ability to break the speed limit? Something us normal drivers also aren't allowed to do


I do wonder however why there isn't in car technology for speakers mic etc to link to the radio and for voice traffic to be routed over when an airwave device is in range. something to do with pressing the button possibly ?

I see no reason why bluetooth connectivity isn't mandatory in cars ,after all we forced seat belts on to drivers and then passengers to good effect ,why not bluetooth and then there will be no excuse for drivers to use a handheld phone

[techguyone]

Because you can't bluetooth Facebook and snapchat probably. We've gone well beyond ye olde phone & text now.